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RD: Backwards
Plot Summary Whilst Kryten is taking his Starbug driving test, Holly, whilst on autopilot, accidentally transports herself, Rimmer and Kryten through a time-hole, only to discover a version of Earth in the early nineties where time is running backwards. Following last series' thrilling climax, Lister has given brith to twins, Jim and Bexley (As prophecied in Future Echoes) but returned the childeren to their mother/father Deb Lister. Holly underwent a sex change operation to look more like the computer he fell in love with. And after a brief time rebelling against nothing Kryten crashed Lister's spacebike and was rescued by the crew of Red Dwarf, where he has now taken residence. Rimmer takes Kryten for his driving test in Starbug One, and despite one or two hitches (flinging Rimmer out of the vehicle) which can be attributed to Kryten learning to drive in Starbug Two, things seem to be going well. Until they chance across a time hole which transports them to Earth, but something is amiss. They find a roadsign which reads "Nodnol, 871 selim" after a brief discussion they deduce that they are 178 miles from London, and everything is backwards, they "un-hitch" a ride to London, (which looks bizarrely like late eighties Manchester) where Holly explains that because for every action has an equal and opposite reaction, the big bang should conversely lead to the big crunch and time is running backwards. In a cafe, after watching a woman regurtitate a cream finger, they discover that it's 3991 (or 1993) and that as Starbug is destroyed they should get jobs and find an advert for a pub who want "Novelty acts", and on a planet where time is running backwards, anything a hologram and a robot do is pretty much a novelty. Meanwhile, Lister and the Cat are hot their heels. They follow them through the time hole and land safely. But Lister's ribs appear to be cracked and he has developed a black eye. They however are not as quick to work out their surroundings, all they know is that they are indeed on Earth...Lister is home. After seeing the "Nodnol" sign they deduce that they are in Bulgaria. (Benefit of being the "Smart Party") They find a poster for an act called "The Sensational Reverse Brothers" and go to find Rimmer and Kryten. They hike a ride to the pub and sit and wait for the show to start. Rimmer and Kryten's show is a hit, including such tricks as eating a boiled egg fowards and drinking a glass of water. After the show Lister and the Cat go backstage (after witnessing someone "undrink" a pint of Bitter, they realise they're in England in a world where time goes backwards) where Rimmer and Kryten tell them they want to stay, but a talking to from the manager, they are fired, for a fight, a fight no-one remember's having. They return to the pub to decide what to do next. And when Cat and Lister un-eat someone's pie, the reason for Kryten and Rimmer's dismissal becomes clear...they are about to have a fight. Lister has his ribs un-cracked and his black eye sucked from his face. The bar room fight (or as Listyer calls it an 'bar room tidy') is now in full swing, with Rimmer cowering under a table, Cat fixing a chair over someone's head and Lister's unique way of repair a broken window pane. The crew decide to return to Starbug, but not before "giving" money to charity. Just before they leave they realise they are a man down. Lister, however informs Kryten and Rimmer that Cat is "in the bushes", whereby he emerges seconds later, with a shocked expression and a stilted walk. "Don't ask" Link to Series II A Star Wars style scroll is used to explain all the occurrences that had happened between Series II and III. The text is as follows: RED DWARF III THE SAGA CONTINUUMS THE STORY SO FAR... Three million years in the future, Dave Lister, the last human being alive discovers he is pregnant after a liaison with his female self in a parallel universe. His pregnancy concludes with the successful delivery of twin boys, Jim and Bexley. However, because the twins were conceived in another universe, with different physical laws, they suffer from highly accelerated growth rates, and are both eighteen years old within three days of being born. In order to save their lives, Lister returns them to the universe of their origin, where they are reunited with their father (a woman), and are able to lead comparatively normal lives. Well, as normal as you can be if you've been born in a parallel universe and your father's a woman and your mother's a man and you're eighteen years three days after your birth. Shortly afterwards, Kryten, the service mechanoid who had left the ship after being rescued from his own crashed vessel, the Nova 5, is found in pieces after his space bike crash lands onto an asteroid. Lister rebuilds the 'noid, but is unable to recapture his former personality. Meanwhile, Holly, the increasingly erratic Red Dwarf computer, performs a head sex change operation on himself. He bases his new face on Hilly, a female computer with whom he'd once fallen madly in love. And now the saga continuums AND NOW THE SAGA CONTINUUMS... RED DWARF III THE SAME GENERATION - NEARLY - Noteworthy Dialogue *'Rimmer:' Flobby-Dob-Blib-Blob-Bleep! *'Lister:' I didn't come here lookin' for trouble, I just came to do the Red Dwarf shuffle. *'Lister:' It's not a bar room brawl, it's a bar room tidy! Un-rumble! *'Rimmer:' What is that? (holds book to Kryten) Holly: It's a time hole! Rimmer: Don't help him! Kryten: It's a time hole! Holly: It's a time hole! Rimmer: It is clearly not a time hole. It is clearly a blue giant about to go supernova. (Looks out of window) THAT is a time hole. (Turns head back to Kryten) Oh. (Turns head slowly to rapidly-approaching time hole) '''Rimmer, Kryten and Holly:' Aaaaaargh! Background Information *The man who appears to "un-smoke" a cigarette is an uncredited Rob Grant. *This episode has more swearing than any other episode, only it's all backwards. *The Series 3 DVD set comes with a section called "Backwards--Forwards" in the bonus DVD, which shows this episode from end to beginning, thus we get to see what the people speaking backwards are actually saying. Guest Stars ''Actor and character they played. References Other articles of things featured in this particular episode Category:Episodes Category:Series III Episodes